Snake Eyes/Scarlett

Snake Eyes/Scarlett

Description

Description

Snake Eyes/ScarlettSnake Eyes/Scarlett, the most in-love couple and the main couple in the main G.I. Joe comic book (the second being Flint/Lady Jaye), they've loved each other for years. It's been 32 years since June 2014 if you count issue #1 in June 1982.http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joe/joe1.shtml

In issue #27, it was Scarlett who was first attracted to Snake Eyes when G.I. Joe was being formed. Scarlett's first assignment was to train the new team in hand-to-hand combat. During the exercises, she met Snake Eyes. While she beat most of the team members, she recognized that Snake Eyes was a superior fighter despite the fact that he had allowed her to beat him, allowing her to keep her dignity and respect with the others. Scarlett was intrigued by his actions and wanted to know more, and as a result, they became very close. They got to know each other even before the crash and Scarlett was the first person Snake Eyes ever opened up too. When the crash with the helicopter happen, Snake Eyes chose to stay and get Scarlett out even when his face was on fire. The fact that Scarlett still wanted to be with him after his face was burned and his voice gone… that's love… real love.http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joe/joe27.shtml

Picture
They come in at number 2 on my list of favorite couples. I've been a fan of them ever since I read the comic book back in the late 80s. Sadly you won't find that many fan art pictures of these two kissing, making-out or being very intimate with each other, which is what lovers are suppose to do......... half the time people just show them standing next to each other and fan fiction isn't that much different either... in fact... its worst. A lot of fan made music videos of them are pretty terrible as well, they do nothing but focus on the shootty cartoons and not on the main comic book.

3 years later, its Snake Eyes whose been captured by Cobra but both Scarlett and Storm Shadow go to rescue him in anther silent issue in G.I. Joe Year Book issue #3.http://www.yojoe.com/comics/yb/yb3.shtml

It's stated in issue 159 (2010) when it's learned that Zartan disguised himself as Snake Eyes, Duke says, "Snake Eyes would never leave Scarlett in a tight situation. I just verified it by getting past his defenses to slug him out. No way I could do that to the real Snakester."http://www.yojoe.com/comics/idwarah/arah159.shtml

But he hasn't done much else with them in the canon storyline, nothing important or memorable has happen since then. He's missed a lot of opportunities to do more with them, only in issue 192 in July of 2013 do we see any real interaction between them. But there's really nothing else I can list before or after that. Now I'm not asking for every issue to be about them, although I wouldn't mind a G.I. Joe title that just started them. It does show that there not needy, they don't always have to be near each other and their not worried 24/7 when one is off on a solo mission. They both have absolute confidences in each other. But there needed to be more loving scenes between them.

Non-Canon and Incompetent Writers
When G.I. Joe was under Image Comics and Devil's Due, he did do a few more romantic scenes with them… but that storyline became non-canon and when that happens, they pretty much become meaningless. There have been a few other writers who have written very touching scenes (small ones) with them in alternate realities such as Brandon Jerwa, Tim Seeley, Mike O'Sullivan and John Ney Reiber. But those storylines were not continued.

As for the rest... others have not even tried or have failed completely and that would include other G.I. Joe titles, all the animation series and films. That list of lazy writers who are nothing but hacks would include the people at Sunbow, Stephen Sommers, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Warren Ellis, Josh Blaylock, Andy Schmidt, Henry Gilroy, Eric Karten, Chuck Dixon and Karen Traviss.

G.I. Joe Titles
There have been different alternative G.I. Joe worlds in the comic books, TV shows and films, I'll give a list and a short summary with links to their issues. With others I'll have to go into more detail.G.I. Joe (Marvel/IDW) (It went on for 32 years)http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joe/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/sm/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/idwarah/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/idw-gijoe-a-real-american-hero/http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?t=75248G.I. Joe Sunbow cartoon (In episode "The MASS Device", Snake Eyes sacrifices himself to save the team and he and Scarlett touch palms while separated by a plexiglass wall, which brings Scarlett to tears. When Snake Eyes returns to headquarters alive, Scarlett runs and throws herself into his arms, overjoyed that he's alive, but that's it)G.I. Joe DiC series (Not that much of them was shown in the DiC series, but they did work together during the episodes they appeared in)G.I. Joe (Image/Devils Due) (It continued from the Marvel G.I. Joe comics, however they ruined the whole storyline when they tried to mix the comic book and the 80s cartoon… and those two storylines couldn't be any more different. The problem was that the writers were more familiar with the cartoon and not the comic book. A big mistake because they pretty much turned it into a Soap Opera with idiotic drama and angst scenes with characters doing questionable things that had very little or no explanations to them at all. This is what happens when other writers try to take over. Fortunately this became an alternative reality that ended in 2008)http://www.yojoe.com/comics/image/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/elite/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/declassified/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/declassifieds/scarlettdeclassified.shtmlG.I. Joe: Front Line (In the last issue, G.I. Joe disbands after defeating Cobra, Snake Eyes and Scarlett retire and live together in Snake’s cabin in the High Sierras. Scarlett states in a letter that there making room for guests, "hint," "hint")http://www.yojoe.com/comics/frontline/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/frontline/frontline2.shtmlG.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War (Scarlett and Snake Eyes develop a relationship throughout the G.I. Joe/Transformers series, in The Art of War, they finally come together and kiss)http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joetran3/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joetran3/joetran33a.shtmlhttp://www.yojoe.com/comics/joetran3/joetran35a.shtmlTransformers: Vs G.I. Joe (With a 1932 timeline, Snake Eyes and Scarlett are shown to be in love with each other as Snake Eyes embraces Scarlett, but the comic was cancelled before anything else could have been written)http://www.yojoe.com/comics/tranjoe/G.I. Joe: Reloaded (Snake Eyes is not a member of the team, he has never met Scarlett, but he’s in love with her. Duke was an agent working undercover for Cobra but Scarlett kills him. The comic was cancelled before anything else could have been written)http://www.yojoe.com/comics/reloaded/http://www.yojoe.com/comics/reloaded/reloaded14.shtmlG.I. Joe: Spy Troops CGI movie (Throughout the story he has some relationship with Scarlett as he is a part of the team that goes to rescue her after she is taken hostage by Zartan, but it's not fully explored)Valor Vs Venom CGI movie (No type of love relationship was seen between them, although the film was more action and humor oriented. I can't be sure if this is true or not, but it's said that the Valor Vs Venom promotional comics clearly state that Snake Eyes and Scarlett are in a relationship)G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 cartoon (In the season one finale, it is shown that Snake Eyes has some interest in Scarlett. He goes out of his way to save her and put her out of harm’s way before moving on to complete his mission. According to the 3.5" toys, it's stated in two different battle packs that Snake Eyes and Scarlett are in some sort of relationship... but I can't be 100% sure about that)

G.I. Joe: Origins/G.I. Joe (IDW) (At first it seemed as if the series was developing Snake Eyes and Scarlett's romance as the story progressed, rather then having it established as a back-story, as the Marvel comics series did. Duke is seen in this continuity as having had some kind of past relationship with Scarlett and resents her growing feelings for Snake Eyes. Duke is pretty much the antagonistic character who unsuccessfully tries to come between them.

But Snake and Scarlett didn't have that much interaction, she became nothing more than a background character though half the series, they've barely teamed-up, they've hardly spend any time with each other. Some of the covers have been pretty misleading when it not only comes to their relationship but to the whole storyline. In Vol. 2, issue #13, it showed that Snake Eyes left Scarlett and the team... again... it was bad enough that Chuck Dixon writes G.I. Joe with action and no substances, abandoned plots elements, adults acting like preteens, and then starts writing a dumb uninteresting love triangle, as if the storyline needed another one. It came out of nowhere and it makes no sense. This doesn't really say a whole lot for Scarlett as a character if she's won over this easily. They went after Snake because they thought he betrayed the team and Scarlett didn't question this at all until Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow issue #19, where Scarlett states that she believes Snake Eyes is working deep cover... somehow she didn't come to this conclusion sooner...

G.I. Joe: Operation H.I.S.S. (A very short CGI series that's based on the crappy 2009 film. There's only one scene in episode 6 which it's reported that Scarlett has been taken and they focus in on a close up to Snake Eyes at that moment and he goes to rescue her in episode 7… but that's it)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok5lauB1uvEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERnpgelfcmwG.I. Joe: Renegades cartoon (Their bios stated, "Her special link to Snake Eyes, who trained her in Ninjitsu, comes in handy too."
"Trained by the ace Arashikage clan, this masked mercenary used to show up just for special missions whenever Scarlett called. She can "translate" what he's thinking.")G1JOE2012 (This short CGI film made by NGSMOOV, also called G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover. It stars Duke, Snake Eyes, Scarlett and a few of the Transformers. At 2:10, you can clearly see that Snake Eyes and Scarlett have a romantic relationship as they're leading their foreheads against each other, Scarlett puts her hand on the side of face and she tells him, "be careful". It’s far better than any other G.I. Joe cartoon, CGI or live action films)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inl9LMaOGAw

Renegades didn't get anything Right
They wasted their time on a crappy A-Team plot, making the bad guys be capitalist, characters who look and act like teenagers, liquid monsters, someone (who's really a white guy) having liquid superpowers, others who are just completely unrecognizable, shoving idiotic jokes, arguments and one-liners down everyone's throat. G.I. Joe is suppose to be about the U.S. armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine) that became a Special Counter-Terrorist Unit Delta that fights Cobra around the globe in the sea, air and land… not a small group of door-to-door problem solvers on the run and acting like "The Odd Couple" with bickering moments going on. I'm not disappointed that it ended, what was the point of this series??? To do something different... ok, that's good, I like new ideas... but they could have come up with something far better than that.

The fact that in the last episode, the original voice actor Michael Bell as Duke from the Sunbow series recounts his terrible dream where everyone was drawn horribly... that doesn't say a whole lot of what some of the writers, Hasbro, or what The Hub thought of their own show.

Hints of Snake Eyes/Scarlett in Renegades but nothing more
When it came to Snake Eyes/Scarlett hints like what they've done and what the characters said about them, here's a list
In episode Dreadnoks Rising, Duke says, "You put a lot of faith into that mystery man." and Scarlett replies, "He's earned it."
In episode Rage, Tunnel Rat says to Snake Eyes "Hey, your lady is in trouble, I'm guessing you know how to find her right?"
In episode Return of theArashikage Part 1, Jinx says to Scarlett, "You know you’re not like his other students. I've seen how he treats you… how he cares."
In episode Fire Fight, when Scarlett goes with Snake Eyes on a chopper motorcycle, Tunnel Rat says, "Ah, what can you do? Chicks dig the strong totally silent type." When Scarlett is hanging off a mountain lift, Baroness says to Snake Eyes, "Surrender Ninja, or your girlfriend flies away!" Even Baroness can see something going on between them.
In episode Knockoffs, Roadblock says, "You see, now﻿ that's what I'm talking about.﻿ Snake Eyes and Scarlett, they share bond, a connection." Zartan says to Scarlett, "Ninja's got guts, huh, too bad I have to splatter him all over the asphalt." Scarlett replies, "My money is on Snake Eyes." After Snake Eyes knocks out Zartan, Duke wants to know how he knew it was him, Snake Eyes puts his right fist on his chest and Scarlett says, "Heard the differences in your heartbeats." Roadblock says, "Now that's really knowing someone."
In episode White Out, Storm Shadow shouts out to Snake Eyes, "and your woman will be the first to fall!" Storm Shadow sees it as well.
At the end of episode The Anaconda Strain, Scarlett is remembering her father (who was deceased as far as she knew), Snake Eyes comforts her by putting his hand on her shoulder and she puts her hand on his.
In Cutting Edge, an episode that just stared Snake Eyes, Scarlett and Jinx, we once again see just how good they are when they work together.
Episode Revelations, Part 1 reveals that Snake Eyes knew Scarlett's father and promised him to look after her. When they came under attack from Cobra, Snake Eyes face was burned when Mr. O'Hara's lab exploded. Scarlett says, "All that time we spent together, you should have found a way to tell me the truth." But Scarlett can see that Snake Eyes blames him self for what happen and why he didn't tell her (in his own way). She knows that nobody was going to make her father quite at what he was doing and she thanks Snake Eyes for helping him by gently touching his face, Snake Eyes then holds her hands.
In Episode Revelations, Part 2, when Snake Eyes is being forced inside in the MASS device, Mindbender says to Scarlett, "Oh, if only I had the right frequency, you wouldn't have to watch your boyfriend get turned inside out." When it works she shouts, "Snake Eyes!"
In an interview there was a question asked about the relationshipsQ17 — "Are there going to be any ongoing relationships between either Flint and Lady Jaye or Scarlett and Snake Eyes?" – CAPT. GRID-IRONHenry Gilroy: "Yes and yes. These relationships will be evolving as the series progresses."http://generalsjoes.com/2011/01/21/exclusive-interview-with-the-writing-team-of-g-i-joe-renegades/#more-10242

But unfortunately that wasn't much character or relationship development between them. None of that meant either one of them had deep feelings of love for each other since there was no definite answer to that. It was very slowly leading to a relationship but what little development there was, it wasn't memorable and it was very much rushed due to the fact that the show ended very quickly. The writers had their chance to already have them as a couple, like in the comic book… but like every other animated, CGI (expect for G1JOE2012), and the live action versions… they blew it, because it didn't get a second season.

The writers can say whatever they want, but they can change their minds pretty quickly and for no reason whatsoever. When you have different writers for just about every single episode, none of them seem to be on the same page or knows what happened in a previous episode… and that happen with episode 24, with the whole thing between Snake Eyes and Scarlett. Larry Hama never resorted to anything like that with them and their relationship has been far better than coming up with a crappy teen soap opera plot. That whole scene was forgotten and wasn't brought up in the next episode... so one has to ask... what was the point of that????

80s Cartoon... meh...
When it comes to the Sunbow series, Snake Eyes and Scarlett were of course not an item, but two episodes to note is The MASS Device, a character named Selina and Duke kissed each other right in front of Scarlett and she didn't have a problem with it at all. The other is Cobra Claws Are Coming to Town where Cover Girl kissed Duke at the end of the episode. For a series that's called a classic, it only lasted for 2 seasons since it was canceled, like every other G.I. Joe animated series.Sunbow (canceled after 2 seasons)GI Joe DiG (canceled after 2 seasons)Extreme (canceled after 2 seasons)Sigma 6 (canceled after 2 seasons)Renegades (canceled after 1 season)

Extra Joe characters created just to sell Toys
Larry Hama has stated in interviews that Hasbro/Sunbow had issues with Hawk's code name being too "politically charged," and thought that Snake Eyes' inability to speak made it difficult for the animators to portray his romance with Scarlett in what was essentially a 30 min cartoon made to sell toys... so they created Duke because they needed a new action figure and it made easier for the cartoon writers... but he hardly appeared in the comics at first since Hama never created him. In fact he didn't even exist in the comics until issue #22 in 1984 because Hawk was the first and real team leader. Larry Hama was forced to put him in the comics, but to this day, Duke is nothing more than a boring bland character that adds nothing to the team or to a storyline.

"The main problem I had was that the folks at Hasbro and the writers on the cartoon show just treated Duke as if he was interchangeable with Hawk. This is why Duke was never really developed as a character in the comic. There was also a design problem in that he looked too similar to Hawk."--Larry Hamahttp://joeguide.com/hama/email.shtml

Incompetent Writers... again
Flint and Lady Jaye ending up becoming more focused on like in episode Eau De Cobra where they attended a social function as a couple. Scarlett was fazed out of the show altogether by Season 2 in favor of Flint/Lady Jaye. Hama was even asked to break up Snake Eyes/Scarlett but he and Marvel wouldn't budge on it, and since Sunbow had no back story for her and Duke, they dropped her for Lady Jaye. That alone proves that this whole D/S thing was based on nothing but laziness, a lack of writing ability, and no real effort or imagination. It was only done for their own convenience since there was no real reason given for why they would be together in the first place. The 80s G.I. Joe cartoon was canceled only after 2 seasons, but every G.I. Joe cartoon has only lasted for 1 or 2 seasons.

G.I. Joe films... meh...
When it comes to that piece of shoot film......... oh god... where do I start… on a pre release interview, Stephen Sommers actually stated that it was "too hard" to show a romantic relationship where one party is mute and you can't see their eyes. I wonder if he actually bothered to watch his own movie. Some of the interactions between Snake Eyes and Scarlett were actually far more caring and intimate than any high school pick up lines Wayans could spew out at her. The whole concept of a Snake Eyes/Scarlett relationship being "too hard" just says that Sommers was either too lazy to actually bother, or simply lacked the ability.

He also said that in his opinion, if you nailed down the character of Snake Eyes, you nailed down a G.I. Joe movie......... even if that is the case, Sommers sadly failed to nail down Snake Eyes or anything in the film. He made him into nothing but a masked combat machine… just like what the Sunbow series, the DiC series and what Resolute did. He could have just as easily have been another nano viper or a robot. What makes Snake Eyes such a compelling character is his humanity and the simple fact it, Scarlett is a huge part of that. He has lost everything but her, his feelings towards her and his sense of duty and honor keeps him going. If you take Scarlett out of that equation, Snake Eyes looses a great deal of what makes him a fan favorite.

Why did they even bother with Ripcord in the movie??? For one thing he wasn't black or part of the Joe team when it was first formed.http://www.myuselessknowledge.com/joe/characters/ripcord.htmlhttp://www.yojoe.com/action/84/ripcord.shtml
They revamped a C list character that really had no strong presence in either the comic or the cartoon in order to shoehorn slapstick "comic relief" down our throats. From what I saw, the character served absolutely no purpose in the film, other than being annoying and bombarding us with sophomoric attempts at comedy.

I fail to see why they just don't have Snake Eyes using sign language or military hand singles. In the film Scarlett and Ripcord are basically like two flirty teenagers, whereas with Snake Eyes and Scarlett, it's something much deeper than just words, and that's why people like it so much.

Many times I've heard that the people at Sunbow and Sommers say that they didn't know how to write for a mute character… what? Really? Well Larry Hama only did it for a decade, with an entire issue or two completely silent, hell Marvel Comics in 2002 or 03 also did that......... want to know why? What's the secret?? It's called having a fracking imagination! Screw Resolute and Cobra Rising.

Good animation... shootty Writing
Speaking of Resolute… oh god… writer Warren Ellis admitted that he knew nothing about the comics when he wrote it, when he did read it, he said that he didn't care for it… and it showed. There was no character depth, everybody was a cardboard cutout, the back-stories were non-existent, too many plot holes, and out of cannon performances but that gets completely glossed over simply because of the "look" of the animation and the Matrix style action. Duke slams Snake Eyes in front of everyone, and slapped down Scarlett's self-esteem a peg or two by telling her he didn't care what her choice was. That doesn't say a lot for Scarlett in Resolute or for Ellis's writing. The only reason why it's liked is because of its animation and action junkies will take anything if it's got gun fire and explosions.

D/S Trolls
From time to time, Snake Eyes/Scarlett fans will have to put up with D/S fans who just act like trolls. Stating all kinds of nonsense about them, even about the canon title, but as always, they can't prove a thing. This is one of main reasons why I put a lot of links in this picture and others, so it's not just me saying this, I'm providing reliable sources to backup what I'm saying.

A solid Couple like no Other
Snake Eyes/Scarlett are a very unique pairing in the canon title, unlike so many other comic book couples, they have never flirted with others, they've never cheated on each other, they've never wondered about being with other people, they've never question their relationship, and they've never broken up. There love is as solid as it gets in the world of comic books. Larry Hama writes his characters as mature adults with years of experiences to learn from.

But sadly, most of the fans completely miss this and treat them as most comic book pairings, which are nothing more soap opera disasters.

The main canon comic books of G.I. Joe are all we real SE/S fans have… and sadly it will always be like that. Never will we be able to see such moments they had in the comic books, it well never be seen or portrayed in animation form or in live action… it's just not going to happen…

Not from the so-called professional filmmakers and writers that is. Which bring me back to the short CGI film called G1JOE2012, it took a particular group of people to actually have a small love scene between them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inl9LMaOGAw

Scenes like that is all I'm asking for when it comes to them in films and in a mini or ongoing animated series. I'm not asking for an entire film or a series to be just about them with romance scenes taking up everything. Just a few scenes with lines, dialog (from Scarlett) and a kiss scene that shows without a doubt that they are a couple and are deeply in love with each other. Nothing and no one will ever have them questioning that and nothing will ever come between and drive them apart. I fail to see what's so hard about that… I really do…